SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Brooke Despriet and
Ansley Carpenter secured the ITA South Regional Doubles Championship on the final day of the ITA Fall Tournament in Rome, Ga., earning an automatic bid to the ITA Cup in October.
Despriet and Carpenter, the tournament's top seed, claimed the title with a three-set victory over Emory's second-seeded duo of Emily Kantrovitz and Dakota Fordham.
The Sewanee pair breezed through their early rounds, losing just one game in their first two matches. In the quarterfinals, they faced the seventh-seeded Emory team of Rachel Hernandez and Riyah Dugar, winning a tightly contested pro set, 8-6.
In the semifinals, Despriet and Carpenter rallied after dropping the first set, 5-7, against Emory's fourth-seeded team of Eliza McPherron and Yanire Marte. The Sewanee duo bounced back to take the second set, 6-2, and clinched the match with a 10-6 tiebreaker win in the third.
The championship match against Kantrovitz and Fordham was another hard-fought contest. Despriet and Carpenter won the first set, 6-2, before dropping the second, 3-6. In the decisive third set, the Tigers emerged victorious, 6-4.
This victory marked Despriet's third consecutive ITA regional title.
Sewanee also had two additional doubles teams reach the quarterfinals.
Sarah Livingston and
Mariella Congeni, seeded fifth, made a strong run, defeating a Centre team 8-1 in the first round and a Berry team 8-6 in the round of 16. However, they fell to Emory's McPherron and Marte, 4-8, in the quarterfinals.
Ivy Wilson and
Emma Caldwell also had an impressive showing. After a first-round 8-2 win over Millsaps, they advanced when their North Carolina Wesleyan opponents retired in the second round. The duo battled hard in the quarterfinals but fell to Emory's third-seeded team of Iris Berman and Izabele Antanavicius, 5-7, 4-6.
Additionally, Sewanee's
Harper High and Cici Hardin defeated a Centre team 8-1 in the first round before falling in the second round to McPherron and Marte, 3-8.
In singles action, three Sewanee players advanced to the quarterfinals: Carpenter, Livingston, and Caldwell. The quarterfinals featured only Emory and Sewanee players. Carpenter fell to No. 1 Kantrovitz, 6-4, 6-2; Livingston lost in a tight second-set tiebreaker to No. 3 Antanavicius, 2-6, 6-7 (5); and Caldwell was defeated by No. 8 Fordham, 3-6, 2-6.
Carpenter and Despriet will next compete at the ITA Cup, beginning Thursday, October 10, at the Rome Tennis Center in Mount Berry, Ga.
